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"I have always eaten animal flesh with a somewhat guilty conscience. So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore." -Albert Einstein

Organic foods last longer, taste better, are more wholesome, and are better for the environment.

The 12 Most Toxic Fruits and Vegetables

Known as the Dirty Dozen, conventionally grown peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce and potatoes contain the highest levels of pesticides, according to the Environmental Work Group (EWG), a nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C.

Up to 20 different pesticides are used in the traditional production of the Dirty Dozen and contrary to popular belief, simply washing or peeling your fruits and vegetables doesnt guarantee elimination. The pesticides used are often absorbed into the plants which allows them to bind to the fruits and vegetables, making it impossible to eliminate their presence.

The chemicals within these pesticides are reported to disrupt your immune system, nervous system, reproductive system and hormonal system.

Consumers who switch to organic versions of these foods could cut their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent, according to EWG. It analyzed nearly 43,000 tests conducted by the Department of Agriculture,

We at VegOnline.org are pleased to present you with the Vegetarian Website Award for excellence in vegetarian information! We understand the value of free, accessible information regarding vegetarian and veganism: great recipes, insightful articles, and tips to make people’s diets that much healthier. Eco Mall helps further the vegetarian cause, and we think you should be honored as such.

Thank you for everything Eco Mall does to increase food awareness – your service is highly valued.

“The most political act we do on a daily basis is to eat.”
- Jules Pretty

Plant-based diet can help save the planet.

“The human appetite for animal flesh
is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage
now threatening the human future—
deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss,
social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease.”
- Editors, World Watch

"Nothing will benefit health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein

"The question is not, can they reason?, Nor, can they talk?, But can they suffer?" - Jeremy Bentham

"It may take a while, but there will probably come a time when we look back and say, 'Good Lord, do you believe that in the 20th century and early part of the 21st, people were still eating animals?" - Mary Tyler Moore

Amount of water needed to produce 1 pound of
wheat: 25 gallons
Amount of water needed to produce 1 pound of beef:
2,500 gallons

A 16-year study of 6000 vegetarians and 5000 non-vegetarians in the UK found that the vegetarians generally had lower LDL cholesterol levels and lower death rates for each of the mortality endpoints studied.

Here are the list of ten things vegans don’t eat.

1. Meat. – obvious, yes.

2. Fish and shellfish. – some don’t eat Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements if they are from real fish.

3. Dairy products. – everything from milk and yogurt to cheese and butter.

4. Eggs. – that means mayonnaise and anything else made with eggs like most brownies and cakes, too!

5. Honey. – Bees are animals. Bees make honey. Vegans don’t eat it.

6. White sugar. – Some white sugar is processed with bone char, according to PETA. (I had no idea!!)

7. Most beer. – Guinness Beer is filtered using tiny amounts of gelatin derived from fish bladders. And it’s not alone. While some beers are vegan, others are filtered using egg whites or sea shells, according to barnivore, a vegan beer and wine guide.

8. Some breads. – while many simple breads are a-OK, containing just four ingredients (flour, yeast, water, and salt) many breads and baked goods are made with whey (a dairy product) or with butter, eggs, or sugar.

9. Marshmallows. – these and other foods, like gummy candies and Frosted Mini Wheats cereal, are made with gelatin — a protein made from boiling skin, bones, and other animal parts. Surprisingly, though, a lot of junk food qualifies as vegan, even if it is unhealthy.

10. Salad dressing. Salads are great for vegans, but not necessarily the dressing. Scan the ingredient list, and you’ll often find lecithin, which helps keep oil and vinegar from separating, and can be derived from animal tissues or egg yolk (both no-no’s for vegans) or from soy (OK).

Tips, Ideas and Nutrition Information for Healthful and Sustainable Living

Questions and Answers About Vegetarianism

Eating Organic Decreases Pesticide Levels in Kids

A recent study by Environmental Health Perspectives (March, 2013) found that children who ate primarily organic produce and juice had one-sixth the level of pesticide byproducts in their urine compared with children who ate non-organic food. The study compared children who ate produce and juice that was at least 75% organic with kids eating at least 75% non-organic.

Source: National Library of Medicine

The ABC News poll said that 55 percent of Americans surveyed said they would avoid foods carrying a biotech label. However, that survey response rose to 62 percent among women, who do most of the food shopping for U.S. families.

The sale of organic foods and beverages climbed to $11 billion in 2012, according to a new report by the U.S. Market for Organic Foods and Beverages. This means the annual sales of organic foods grew 1000 percent between 1990 and 2012.

Globally the Organic Food market in 2001 was estimated at $26 billion and is expected to reach $80 billions by 2018.

PESTICIDES IN CHILDREN A study from the University of Washington reports that school children eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are more likely to exceed EPA safety thresholds for organophosphate pesticides than children eating organic produce. Organophosphate metabolites inchildren eating conventionally grown foods were nine times higher than in children eating organic foods. Professor Richard Fenske,research scientist Cynthia Curl and graduate student Kai Elgethun note that consumption of organic produce represents a relatively simplemeans for parents to reduce their children's pesticide exposure. (PCC Sound Consumer, February, 2013.)

Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine

Dr. Michael Greger

Vegan Outreach

The Meatrix film

Farm Sanctuary

Elephant Sanctuary

National Anti-Vivisection Society

Table of 43 fruits and vegetables that were tested by the Environmental Working Group for pesticide residue. The foods are ranked from worst to best (descending) and the chart will tell you what percentage of that particular fruit/vegetable had pesticides on it and how many pesticides could be detected on each fruit/vegetable. For example, peaches were the worst. 96.6% of peaches had pesticides on them. 86.6% of the peaches had 2 or more different pesticides on them. It's pretty scary stuff. Makes some foods seem a little less, um, peachy...

Organic food makes sense for healthy living and a cleaner and safer environment!

In a review of more than 100 research studies from around the world, the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine found evidence that the vegetarians studied had 57 percent less heart disease, 40 percent less cancer, and 50 percent less high blood pressure than meat eaters.

"Genetically modified food is viewed as unsafe by most [Americans], and the public wants warning labels on food, a new ABCNEWS.com poll finds. 52% believe such foods are unsafe, and an additional 13% are unsure about them. 93% say the federal government should require labels on food saying whether it's been genetically modified . 57% also say they'd be lesslikely to buy foods labeled as genetically modified. The image problem of genetically modified food is underscored by contrast to organic foods.While only five percent of Americans say they'd be more likely to buy a food labeled as genetically modified, 52 percent say they'd be more likely to buy food that's labeled as having been raised organically."

The government agrees, it makes sense to eat organic foods to avoid certain chemicals. The Office of Children's Health Protection at the Environmental Protection Agency declares that "children are at greater risk of pesticide exposure than most adults," and goes on to warn that "pesticides may cause a range of harmful health effects," including cancer and injury to the nervous system, lungs and immune system.

"Organic farming became one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture during the 1990's, and producers, exporters, and retailers are still struggling to meet consumer demand for a wide range of organic products," the USDA said in the April issue of its "Agricultural Outlook" magazine.

We've all suspected it. Now, a growing body of scientificevidence is indicating that organic food is healthier thanconventional produce. Researchers from the University ofCopenhagen recently reported that organically grown producehas higher levels of nutrients when compared withconventional produce.

Specifically, the organic crops had a higher concentration of vitamins and far more secondary metabolites, which arenaturally occurring compounds that help immunize plants fromexternal attack. Some of these metabolites are thought tolower the risk of cancer and heart disease in humans.

Rank (worst to best)

Commodity

Combined Score

Percentage of Samples
Tested with Detectable Pesticides

Percentage of Samples
With Two or More Pesticides

Average Number of Pesticides Found on a Sample

Average Amount (in ppm*) of All Pesticides Found

Maximum Number of Pesticides Found on a Single Sample

Number of Pesticides Found on the Commodity in Total

1

Peaches

100

96.6%

86.6%

3.1

1.134

9

42

2

Apples

96

93.6%

82.3%

2.8

0.894

9

50

3

Sweet Bell Peppers

86

81.5%

62.2%

2.4

0.138

11

64

4

Celery

85

94.1%

79.8%

3.0

0.413

9

30

5

Nectarines

84

97.3%

85.3%

3.0

0.576

7

26

6

Strawberries

83

92.3%

69.2%

2.3

0.799

8

38

7

Cherries

75

91.4%

75.8%

2.8

0.290

7

25

8

Lettuce

69

68.2%

44.2%

1.7

0.142

9

57

9

Grapes - Imported

68

84.2%

53.2%

1.8

0.284

8

37

10

Pears

65

86.2%

45.7%

1.6

0.586

6

33

11

Spinach

60

70.0%

31.2%

1.1

1.240

6

24

12

Potatoes

58

81.0%

18.0%

1.0

1.655

4

18

13

Carrots

57

81.7%

48.3%

1.6

0.046

6

31

14

Green Beans

55

67.6%

42.0%

1.4

0.199

6

35

15

Hot Peppers

53

55.0%

27.5%

1.0

0.290

6

51

16

Cucumbers

52

72.5%

31.7%

1.2

0.057

6

40

17

Raspberries

47

47.9%

23.3%

0.9

0.906

6

21

18

Plums

46

74.0%

27.1%

1.1

0.666

4

15

19

Oranges

46

85.1%

34.6%

1.3

0.100

4

18

20

Grapes - Domestic

46

60.5%

23.4%

0.9

0.104

7

31

21

Cauliflower

39

84.6%

14.6%

1.0

0.004

5

15

22

Tangerines

38

66.7%

33.3%

1.2

0.375

3

4

23

Mushrooms

37

60.2%

22.3%

0.9

0.158

5

16

24

Cantaloupe

34

53.3%

19.4%

0.8

0.026

4

25

25

Lemon

31

55.6%

10.0%

0.7

0.188

5

10

26

Honeydew Melon

31

59.2%

14.2%

0.8

0.012

4

16

27

Grapefruit

31

62.9%

15.2%

0.8

0.056

4

9

28

Winter Squash

31

41.3%

11.6%

0.6

0.017

5

26

29

Tomatoes

30

46.9%

13.5%

0.6

0.029

5

16

30

Sweet Potatoes

30

58.4%

10.0%

0.7

0.198

3

17

31

Watermelons

25

38.5%

13.2%

0.6

0.021

4

13

32

Blueberries

24

27.5%

10.0%

0.4

0.327

4

11

33

Papaya

21

23.5%

5.0%

0.3

0.053

4

19

34

Eggplant

19

23.4%

6.9%

0.3

0.013

4

15

35

Broccoli

18

28.1%

3.2%

0.3

0.004

3

19

36

Cabbage

17

17.9%

4.8%

0.2

0.121

3

18

37

Bananas

16

41.7%

2.0%

0.4

0.029

2

7

38

Kiwi

14

15.3%

3.4%

0.2

0.160

3

8

40

Asparagus

11

6.7%

0.6%

0.1

0.026

2

19

41

Sweet Peas - Frozen

11

22.9%

2.3%

0.3

0.010

2

5

42

Mango

9

7.1%

0.5%

0.1

0.057

2

13

43

Pineapples

7

7.7%

0.6%

0.1

0.002

2

7

44

Sweet Corn - Frozen

2

3.8%

0.0%

0.0

0.005

1

3

45

Avocado

1

1.4%

0.0%

0.0

0.001

1

2

46

Onions

1

0.2%

0.0%

0.0

0.000

1

2

Note: We ranked a total of 42 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because we looked at both domestic and imported samples.